Ogre's 46g Bowfront Reef

Cant wait to see some update pics Ogre!!
 
Just so we're up to date. My live rock from Tampbay Saltwater is on the way... like in flight as I type this. I should have it by 4:30 or so today.

Richard, the owner of TBS is amazing. He managed to get Continental to ship to my local airport instead of me having to drive to Houston.

If it comes in early enough, I'll have my wife document everything while I play in the rock. (Xander will be at my mom's.) Otherwise, I'll try to take pics as I play.
 
LIve Rock is in. I've got 30 pounds in now. Richard from TBS will send the remainder when the tank has cycled. He included a packet of starter bacteria.

I must say that the rock, considering it's 'starter rock' is pretty nice and full of life. I'll get more pics when the tank clears. That black sand is very muddy. But here's the initial bit. I was alone with this so, once the hands were wet, not many pictures were taken.

I've found about a dozen snails. I think some are predatory, but I'll have to look them up. They are all quite small.

I also found an almost clear bivalve of some kind. I hope it survives too.

The blue mat came from Dr. F&S and it's a big help.
SW 002.jpg

You can make out a huge gray sponge on the lower rock. It's about 6 inches in diameter with several tubes. I hope it lives.
SW 007.jpg

SW 002.jpg SW 007.jpg
 
if sponges ever get exposed to air unfortunately they die, air bubbles interrupt the flow of food to the sponge and it ends up starving.
 
Squawk - that buffet will hold a lot of weight. It's all 3/4" in plywood and 2x4s. It's braced every 2 feet in the back and between each set of doors in the front.

Andrew - yeah, I'm afraid of that. It was partially out of the water during shipping. I wouldn't know how to feed an obligate filter feeder like that anyway. sigh...


On the plus side, at least one snail is moving. It was totally white and about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch long. It was just cruising on the front glass.

I've added another Koralia 1 and I've got the HOB filter on the back for now. That brings my turnover to about 30x. It will be about 25x permanently.
 
Get it in there and get a pic already GAH!:perv:
 
OK, here are a few pics. They are pretty crummy pics, between the water, light, bowfront, and my lack of camera skills... sigh.

Anyway, you can see the big gray sponge. The red thing in the last pic is a cup coral. I've found a dead bristle worm and two 1/2" snails (alive).

SW 001.jpg

SW 002.jpg

SW 003.jpg

SW 001.jpg SW 002.jpg SW 003.jpg
 
AquariaCentral.com